A “potterfall” at the Nanfeng Ancient Kiln.

On one of our five days in Guangzhou, we visited the Nanfeng Ancient Kiln in the nearby city of Foshan, an area famous for its ceramics. Courtney and I were both very excited about this trip because of our fondness for pottery and because our relatives had told us before we came to China that we would get the chance to make some pottery at the studio at the ancient kiln.

Excitement found us before we even set foot inside the studio. At the entrance to the attraction, we came across a local television crew that was filming a special about the ancient kiln and Foshan pottery. The director spotted Courtney, and next thing we knew, two of the assistants were racing over to ask her to be in the special. I guess they wanted a Westerner to show that the kiln is famous worldwide. So Courtney spent the next half hour or so playing the part of an intrigued tourist, walking through the entrance and taking pictures. Then the director would ask her to do the same routine over again, and again, and again. As she said later, “I felt like Milhouse in the Fallout Boy episode.” Meanwhile, the pack of relatives who accompanied us were thoroughly enjoying watching the family’s newest daughter-in-law being a “star”. We must have had about five or six cameras clicking away and a couple camcorders rolling, and my dad was looking quite the part of the director as he translated the director’s instructions for Courtney. Even after the TV crew was done with Courtney, they followed our pack for a little while longer as we finally entered the kiln. One of my uncles found out that the show is supposed to air around Chinese New Year and got the business card for the director, so perhaps we’ll be able to track down a copy of the show.

The kiln itself was very cool. We saw a kiln about 100 feet long — called a Dragon Kiln — that utilizes wind to help the firing process. There was also a pottery museum on site with a lot of interesting pieces. In addition, we stumbled upon a “potterfall” — a waterfall made of huge pots.

Courtney and I make pots at the Nanfeng Ancient Kiln while our relatives look on.

The highlight we had come for, however, was definitely the studio, which was huge and probably could accomodate 100 potters at any one time. Courtney and I each paid for an hour on a pottery wheel (which costs 30 yuan, a huge bargain). We each got a hump of clay and set about making pots while our relatives oohed and aahed as they looked on. I made a pitcher and a bowl, while Courtney made a couple jugs/vases. After we finished, we carve our names on them, and the studio will fire and glaze them for us. One of my uncles will pick up the pots when they are done and send it to us, which will make a great souvenir.

After the kiln visit, we went to lunch at a local restaurant that served up some unusal dishes — crane soup, fried sturgeon, and a fried water fowl that nobody really knew the name of — and they were all delicious. My uncle Kangtai also brought along three bottles of wine — a regular riesling, a powerful (80 proof) rice wine, and a sweet-tasting but stronger-than-you-would-think osmanthus wine.

In the course of Chinese history, there is a littany of great artists who did their best work while drunk. So naturally, after everyone in our party, ourselves included, got tipsy at lunch, it was time to make more art. We proceeded to my uncle Kangtai’s art gallery in Foshan, where my dad and his three brothers created two traditional Chinese brush paintings — one of grapevines for my parents and one of peonies for Courtney and me. My uncle Zhongping, the youngest of the four brothers, did the paintings. My uncle Zhaohua, the oldest of the four brothers, composed lines of poetry to accompany each painting. My father, the second oldest, wrote the poems on the paintings in traditional Chinese calligraphy. My uncle Kangtai, third in the pecking order, would mat the paintings once they dried. It was an amazing experience watching Chinese brush paintings being made. The four brothers then wrote their respective contributions on the paintings and signed their names with personalized seals. It was also a lot of fun as my relatives, who are usually loud anyway and were all still tipsy from lunch, laughed and joked throughout the afternoon. The result was two beautiful paintings, a great time for all, and a day we will not soon forget (thanks in part to al l the photos and videos that everyone took).

My uncle Zhongping painting grapevines.